Thrive Scents – learning employment skills never smelled so sweet!

In Mai-Wel’s Thrive Scents initiative, participants are able to experience a simulated workplace creating soy candles and melts.

Thrive Scents is a centre-based initiative that runs on Tuesday from 9am-12:30pm. During this time, participants are able to experience working in a production line environment that has been developed to simulate a real workplace. In doing so, they are able to work in a team, communicating effectively with others, using technology in the work place as well as building their employability skills. These skills are all vital in successfully obtaining vocational training and long-term employment.

Through working in Thrive Scents, participants have been able to grow and develop as workers, with their fragrant candles and soy melts acting as a physical representation of their growth and achievements. Participants are able to see and enjoy the end results, and as Thrive Scents continues to grow, we get to experience them too!

Thrive Scents now has two display units across Mai-Wel’s offices, exposing their candles and melts to customers outside of the project.

We are also excited to announce that Thrive Scents will be creating a unique scent of candles which will be sold as a fundraising activity at the 2020 Mai-Wel Gala Ball! This is an exciting opportunity for members of the community to enjoy these amazing products, and allow the Thrive Scents team a chance to experience producing their candles in bulk, which will help facilitate more growth in the future.

Thrive Scents is just one facet of Thrive Enterprises, which consists of several different enterprise projects that aim to provide a real work environment for participants to engage in, allowing them a supportive space to grow and develop as workers. Each project has been created to help participants grow the eight employability skills: communication, teamwork, problem solving, self-management, planning and organising, technology, learning and initiative and enterprise.

Additional to Thrive Scents, Mai-Wel also offers Thrive Greens for those who love getting in the garden, Thrive Café for those who are looking to build their kitchen hand and cooking skills and Thrive Renew for those who want to learn about furniture up-cycling and other woodwork skills.